{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T05:02:07Z","timestamp":1790226127582,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790208000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"\n Aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) are a superfamily of NADPH-dependent oxidoreductases that play a crucial role in detoxifying reactive carbonyl species and maintaining redox homeostasis under abiotic stresses. However, systematic characterization of AKRs and their functional roles in cold stress responses in tea plants (\n Camellia sinensis<\/jats:italic>\n ) remain largely unexplored. We identified 48\n CsAKR<\/jats:italic>\n genes genome-wide and classified them into four groups. Structural and promoter analyses pointed to conserved protein backbones alongside diversified regulatory architectures. Expression profiling and RT-qPCR screening identified\n CsAKRIVB2<\/jats:italic>\n as a cold-inducible candidate, which contains seven ARE motifs, the highest counts in the family. The protein localized to both the nucleus and cytoplasm.\n CsAKRIVB2<\/jats:italic>\n overexpression consistently enhanced cold tolerance in\n E. coli<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n N. benthamiana<\/jats:italic>\n , and transgenic\n Arabidopsis<\/jats:italic>\n . Transgenic OE lines exhibited lower ROS and MDA levels, higher SOD\/POD\/CAT activities, and sustained expression of multiple cold-responsive genes, including\n COR15A<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n COR15B<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n RD29A<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n KIN1<\/jats:italic>\n , and\n SnRK2.4<\/jats:italic>\n , alongside upregulated antioxidant genes such as\n CAT1<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n APX2<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n FSD1<\/jats:italic>\n ,\n MDAR1<\/jats:italic>\n , and\n GR2<\/jats:italic>\n , under cold stress. These results demonstrate that\n CsAKRIVB2<\/jats:italic>\n functions as a positive regulator of cold tolerance and represents a promising candidate for breeding cold-tolerant tea varieties.\n <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1950368","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T04:37:04Z","timestamp":1790224624000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Genome-wide identification of the aldo-keto reductase gene family and functional characterization of CsAKRIVB2 conferring cold tolerance in tea plant (Camellia sinensis)"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Dandan","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leigang","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]},{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University","place":["Hefei, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyu","family":"Jiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Minghui","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xu","family":"Ruan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qian","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenjie","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qiong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tea Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences","place":["Hefei, Anhui, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.3109\/07388550903524243","article-title":"Roles of enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants in plants during abiotic stress","volume":"30","author":"Ahmad","year":"2010","journal-title":"Crit. 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